Movie Review: Dirty Grandpa


I am a fan of raunchy movies if they are done right; by that, I mean that they're funny and well thought-out. Dirty Grandpa is decently funny for the first half, but its humor slowly starts to wane for the last half of the movie.

Jason Kelly (Zac Efron) works at his dad's law firm, and is getting married to Meredith (Julianne Hough) in only a few weeks. Jason's grandma has recently passed away, and his grandpa, Dick (Robert de Niro), is understandably sad; however, he still wants to make the annual trip to Florida, and Jason has to drive him there because Dick has a suspended license. On the way there, however, Jason and Dick meet a group of college kids, one of whom (Zoey Deutch) Jason recognizes from a photography class he took. Soon, Jason and Dick's trip takes a detour to Daytona Beach, where the college kids are going for spring break.

If you haven't guessed from the title (or the red band trailer), this movie is very R-rated. I was actually surprised that my parents wanted to go with me to the screening, but I think it's the De Niro factor (beloved/well-known older actor) that might attract older adults with a sense of humor to this film. The movie also has many A-list actors, other than De Niro, such as Efron, Hough, Deutch, Dermot Mulroney, and Jason Mantzoukas, but unfortunately the script falls flat in the second half (just as raunchy, yet not really that funny) as compared to the first half.

Maybe see this movie. I'll confess that I was never bored during it, but a lot of the scenes were dumb and/or unfunny. The girl who actually steals the show in this film is Aubrey Plaza, which was unsurprising to me - the one scene that everyone liked was one near the end with her and De Niro that is absolutely hilarious; she was in a raunchy movie of her own, The To Do List, a few years ago, as well. Make sure to stay for an end scene, too, that starts shortly after the credits start to roll.

Dirty Grandpa is in theaters today, January 22nd, and is rated R with a runtime of 102 minutes. 2.5 stars out of 5.

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